| Intergenerational Anti-Oppression Gathering The Nonviolent Youth Collective, a program of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, will conduct an Anti-Oppression Gathering at Kirkridge Retreat Center in Bangor, Pennsylvania, from May 27th to 30th.The gathering will provide an opportunity for analysis and dialogue on the issues of race, class, gender, age, sexual orientation and power. The Nonviolent Youth Collective believes prejudice is LEARNED, and that we must make efforts to UN-LEARN it. Learned prejudice is often a legacy passed on by people of privilege. Though not their fault, such groups often unconsciously allow patterns of dominance to continue because their privilege – and therefore their dominance -- is invisible to them. Undoing these patterns calls for creating a context in which diversity is embraced and no one is marginalized. “We hope to offer a space for reflection and a place to foster collaboration and understanding,” said Alejandra Tobar Alatriz, a leader of the Nonviolence Youth Collective. “Young people generally bring a fresh lens and innovative programs to address injustices. Likewise, older people bring a lifetime commitment to the work which has fostered priceless experience. We all have much to learn from each other.” The anti-oppression gathering will bring together intergenerational, interracial teams from different communities to forge a network for anti-racist, nonviolent action across generations and in partnerships with the FOR. Organizers hope it will be a shared experience embracing conversations about the effects of oppression across generations. The NYC is a group of young adult facilitators, organizers and artists who are working for nonviolent social transformation. Members can be found throughout the United States, organizing and facilitating popular education workshops and performances at conferences and events. The NYC also runs the Peacemaker Training Institute, which conducts anti-oppression workshops and nonviolence trainings. “We must redefine anti-oppressive work as both central to all struggles for justice, and ––based in joy, not in guilt or shame, but in our willingness and ability to birth a new reality,” Tobar Alatriz said. Contact: Alejandra C. Tobar Alatriz, FOR NYC program Virginia Wilber, FOR Communications ©2004 Fellowship of Reconciliation |